Families Share their Experiences

We had a number of responses from people unable to attend due to personal circumstances. Many of the parents and family members are unable to travel long distances and face incredible amounts of stress. Many have tried for a long time to challenge the system and have put in formal complaints, serious case reviews and are now thoroughly despondent, lacking energy and can no longer “fight” back. Their individual battles and experiences have led to their own post traumatic stress, anger and tiredness. Some of them have had huge expenses as a result and many are unable to work.

We received a small grant to pay for travel costs and expenses and are very appreciative to The Experts by Experience Programme through Choice Support for enabling this to happen. Kim Arnolds was able to attend our meeting and we value her support.

What was discussed?

The wide-ranging discussion was necessarily limited by the short length of time we had together. The topics that arose reflect the most pressing concerns of the five families attending. There are many other concerns we were not able to discuss within the time constraints.

Each of the sections below gives a summary of the main topics of conversation, illustrated by direct quotes from family members, & followed by recommendations relating to that particular topic.

The main themes discussed include:

What goes wrong to ordinary children loved by ordinary families?

Being sold the placement

Accountability

Medication

Human rights issues

Care Quality Commission

Parent issues

Best Practice Award

You can read the full report over on our reports page here or by clicking on the image below